Despite New Jersey's still-ailing economy, one that lags behind most neighboring states and the rest of the nation on key indicators, and the mediocre grades Christie received in the polls - grades that would make him ineligible to teach in New Jersey under his administration's proposed 3.0 GPA requirement - he still has approval ratings of 60 percent-plus.

Why? For reasons, it seems, that have little to do with fixing New Jersey's most pressing problems.

His grades in the Monmouth University survey, presented in our four-part series last week, aren't much different than those we gave him on similar topics in our January report card. We were slightly tougher graders, and we are even less charitable today as Christie nears the end of his first term (see chart).

Christie's popularity stems from the strength of his personality, his take-charge attitude during emergencies, his ease in front of crowds and his refusal to suffer fools gladly. He's good on his feet, and he actually seems to like people - at least those who like him.

"It has to do with his style, it really does," says Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "He's the first person to come in and say, 'I'm going to do something drastic' and people give him credit for that."

But the record doesn't match the rhetoric or the style. And most people polled believe his presidential ambitions are interfering with his willingness to make decisions deemed unpopular with conservative Republicans nationally that can help New Jersey move forward.

None of that seems to register in Christie's overall approval ratings, however.

As Murray noted, the two issues of greatest concern to voters are high property taxes and the economy. Based on the grades he was given in the poll, those are Christie's two biggest weaknesses.

Most people give Christie a pass on the economy, Murray says, because they believe, rightly or wrongly - wrongly, in our view - that Christie at least has things moving in the right direction. They also subscribe to the belief that there is only so much governors can do to counter national economic trends. To some extent, that's true.

Nonetheless, New Jersey trails most of the rest of the country, including our neighboring states, in unemployment, income growth, foreclosure rates and housing price appreciation. A recent Bloomberg analysis of all economic indicators ranked New Jersey sixth from the bottom, and below all of its neighbors. The poverty rate is higher than ever, and the state's credit rating is lower than when Christie took office.

Then, there are property taxes, which remain the number one concern of New Jerseyans. When Christie was sworn in as governor, they were far and away the highest in the nation. Today, nearly four years later, they remain far and away the highest in the nation.

And despite Christie's claim that he has finally tamed the property tax beast, the facts argue otherwise. While the average tax bill increased just 1.6 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in 2011, the "net increase" - the tax bill increase, combined with the reduced rebates under Christie's watch - was 18.7 percent. The net increase was 11 percent under former Gov. Jon Corzine.

Notwithstanding Christie's lackluster performance on property taxes and the economy, he received an overall B- rating in the Monmouth poll. Given the lack of any progress on most key issues over the past year, we have downgraded our composite Jan. 1 grade of B- to a C.

Christie is fortunate that his Democratic opponent in his bid for re-election in November is Barbara Buono, who has offered nothing in the way of a credible plan for addressing the property tax issue or jump-starting the economy.

C student or not, Christie seems a lock for another term. We can only hope that his mediocre report cards - and his desire to prove on the national stage that he is worthy of higher office - will inspire him to do better in the areas where he has been deemed weak in the year ahead.

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Report card: Improvement needed

It's the economy stupid. Right? Isn't that what wins and loses elections, as demonstrated when Bill Clinton defeated incumbent George H.W. Bush more than 20 years ago?

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